St. Peter's Asylum discussion

If one were to enter this room, the first impression would not be that it belonged to a child. Walls are pure white, and the neat-freak killer keeps them so. One single wall is hidden halfway by stacks and stacks of books, each one having been previously read. Upon a shelf above the bed, on display for the public eye, rest his many knives. Unlike a typical boy's bedroom, the floor remains clean and dirty laundry is not strewn about the floor. Felix keeps his dark passenger under wraps, and for the most part the boy comes across as normal.

Felix is not suitable for a roommate. RP here.

Felix gently opened the door, pulling Ruby in behind him. Ignoring the shocked look from his nurse, Felix led the girl to his bed and sat her down.

Felix then went to his nurse and explained the situation. She arched her eyebrows, gave a scrutinizing look to the frightened girl, and then nodded. She left the room.

Felix then made his way over to Ruby, plopping down beside her and once again slinging an arm around her shoulder. "Okay. It's okay, see?"

Mutely the little girl nodded. She sank down onto Felix's bed, her gaze cast down, Dotty held tightly with the hand that wasn't caught in the boy's. "Thanks for letting me come in here with you," she said to the floor. Already, away from her room and its nightmares, Ruby was feeling just the slightest bit safer. Being with her knight always made her feel safe. She knew he wouldn't let anything hurt her if he could help it.

Felix nodded a little, and then took his free hand and put it under her chin. "Ruby?"

Felix lifted her head so that her gaze met his. "Ruby, I need you to look at me, okay?"

The boy sighed a little, and looked her in the eye. "I know you've been talking to Raven."

Ruby's gaze was everywhere except on Felix's face. Her shoulders hunched with the news, and she closed her eyes tightly. She would have reacted in a similar fashion had she just been caught in a lie, even though she hadn't technically been feeding her friend mistruths and didn't really have all that much to worry about in the first place; it was no secret that the Indian had been visiting her, after all. But the guilt was still there, and through it Ruby said, "I'm sorry, Felix. I know I'm not supposed to, but I just can't not. If I do his shadow comes to get me, and it's so scary. I don't want it coming after me all the time. And if I don't talk to Raven it won't leave me alone and Raven will get mad at me. He's scary when he's mad."

"I know, Ruby. I know he's scary."

Felix sighed, again, reliving old encounters with the Indian. He remembered Raven's threat, and shuddered a little.

"Ruby, he wants to hurt you, to break you. And these nightmares are probably due to him."

Ruby said nothing, but her agreement showed in her eyes. "What do I do, then?" she asked him. "I told you why I couldn't not talk to him. I can't tell anyone because he said he'll find out if I do and hurt me like his shadow does. He has stuff, Felix. Knives and a gun and a shocky thingy. He showed them to me." Of course, the little girl was all too young to know what a taser was, let alone what it was for--still, its existence had been pointed out to her all the same.

((Bet Roxie regrets giving him that taser now, doesn't she? :P))

Felix chuckled, a little darkly. "Hon, you're forgetting that I do too." He continued rubbing her back, and he dropped her chin with his other hand.

"I'm not saying I can take him out. I can't. But I won't let him near you, Ruby."

"You don't have a gun or a shocky thingy, do you?" Ruby gave him a doubtful look and cast her gaze about the room--she could see Felix's knives plain as day, and thought that maybe if he had other weapons they, too, would be in sight--but ended up finding none. "And aren't guns faster than knives?" she asked. "How would you protect me if he had one and you didn't?" The little girl wasn't doubting Felix, quite the contrary; she was just trying to reassure herself, cover all the bases. She didn't necessarily want to hear the facts--she wanted to hear comforting words.

Felix shook his head. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."

He shrugged his shoulders, his gaze too falling upon his knives. "But I promise you that I won't let you get hurt. I promise."

Ruby bit her lip, but quickly released it when she felt a stab of pain from the tender spot, settling for squeezing Dotty in her hand instead. For a moment, she wouldn't look at Felix. "I'm so scared, Felix. I don't even get why he wants to do this to me. It doesn't make sense."

Felix sighed. "It's because of me. He's trying to get me; he told me this not too long ago."

((Your posts are so short. :P))

No response, no reaction. Ruby had thought that might have had something to do with it. Again she averted her eyes from her friend, preferring instead to stare at the sheets underneath them. The question now was simply how she was supposed to get through the mess unharmed, something that she had been assured countless times was impossible.

((I'm sorry I'm like not focused I'm trying not to vomit.))

It was almost as if Felix had read her mind. "Ruby, I don't know what to tell you. I can't promise anything this time, hon." The young killer rubbed Ruby's shoulder, a sad smile in place. "I don't know what I can do."

He sighed. "But, like I've told you, I'll keep you safe, okay? I won't let Raven get near you, I'll keep him from you with my life if I have to."

((Oh well that's not good. If you're feeling sick, you shouldn't be here focusing on me.))

"No, Felix." Quiet but firm. Ruby shook her head. "No. You've already gotten hurt because of me. You don't need to keep putting yourself in danger just because I'm in a pickle." A favorite phrase of her father's, "in a pickle." She wasn't exactly sure what it meant--something about trouble--but she figured that now was as an appropriate time as ever to use it. "That's not your job. You shouldn't bother."

((It's okay, I'm just laying down anyways. I'm just not 100% focused.))

Felix, too, shook his head. "Ruby, it's worse for me to see you like this. It is my job. I do need to protect you."

Gently, the young boy squeezed her hand. "And I will. I'll protect you."

((Are you sure?))

"Felix..." But Ruby left the protest uncompleted, allowed it to die on her lips. There was nothing she could say that would change her friend's mind, and in the back part of hers she knew that she didn't want to, not really. Because she was terrified of what was happening to her, of what would happen to her as time went on and the situation wasn't resolved. And the truth was, she wanted--needed--to feel protected, to feel safe.

((Yeah I'm fine.))

Felix again squeezed her hand. "It'll be okay, Ruby. We'll get through this."

The boy gently hugged Ruby, a small smile in place. "Feeling better?" He murmured.

This time Ruby didn't resist. She leaned into him, arms encircling his waist, and allowed her tense form to relax. "Yes."

Felix rubbed her back. "Good. I'm glad." He held her for a moment, his fragile princess, his dull gem, and he held her close before pulling away.

"She said you can stay if you need to," Felix offered. "And I'll sleep on the floor if you want to sleep in the bed."

Ruby shook her head as best she could leaning against him. "Nope. I'm not gonna make on you sleep on the floor. It's hard. You have the bed, it's yours anyway. I'll go get the blanket and pillows from my room and sleep on them." Already she was pulling away, as if prepared to go do just that right then.

Felix shook his head, and pulled her back. "Uh-uh. I wouldn't be a good host if I made you sleep on the floor."

The young killer himself stood, and gently pushed Ruby back down onto the bed. "Stay, sleep."

"Felix," Ruby groaned. "I don't care, it was my idea to come in here and not yours." But she crawled up onto the bed anyway (there was often no point in trying to argue with Felix when he had a fixed opinion) and curled up into a little ball, her usual sleeping position. After a doubtful look at the boy, her green eyes slowly closed and her body relaxed.

Gently, Felix pulled a few covers up over her, and tucked her brown locks behind her ear. "Sleep tight," he murmured with a soft kiss to her forehead.

Felix backed away, and quietly pulled down a pillow and some sheets. With a sigh, Felix made himself a little bed on the ground, and though he lay there, he could not sleep.

God dammit, Raven , the boy thought silently. It was one thing to attack Felix, but putting Ruby through this was on a entirely different page. There had been a line, and it had been crossed.

Felix lay awake for a few hours after Ruby's breathing slowed into a peaceful slumber. The killer lie awake, realizing he had to talk to Raven, and knowing he might not get out of it alive.

((Fade? ))

((Dun dun duuuun! Fade.))

((Alright so I woke up and I couldn't leave last night unfinished so this is just a single post reaction for now unless you want to turn it into a RP.))

The killer entered his room, swinging the door wide open and slamming it shut behind him. The tears had gone; Felix had gone, and all that was left was the demon that Ruby hated oh-so-very-much, and boy was it pissed. All the boy's tears had been she'd; baby blue eyes were raw and puffy and the pupils were ever so slightly dialated, another sign that the boy was not himself.

Ruby's punches hadn't hurt, although he'd be lying if he said the kicks hadn't. Stripping off his shirt and throwing it into the corner, he uncovered countless bruises, one going black at his stomach. "That fucking little bitch," the not-Felix mumbled, while his insides screamed that he couldn't call her that, that she didn't mean it, that it wasn't her fault, it was his. The roles had reversed, the switch had been flipped on, and the demon was out.

Felix, or rather not-Felix, made his way to where the knives would usually sit, and continued to find them missing. Dammit, Harper, why was she looking out for him? He wanted his knives. A fist slammed against the wall, and to no one (especially considering Harper wouldn't hear him if she was here), he screamed. "God fucking dammit, where are my knives?!"

No matter. He would just break the mirror. Glass worked just a well, didn't it? The not-Felix began to make his way over to the mirror, while Felix inside struggled and pushed against his confines.

Oh, shut up. It was your fault anyways. Don't you feel bad enough? At this point, Felix didn't know who was thinking what. Before he could even react, the mirror was down and shattered, and the switch was off.

The fucking demon had left it up to him.

Felix looked down at the shard of glass in his hand, and honestly considered for a moment. His mind was off of Ruby. He hadn't been one for self-harm; he'd kicked that habit years ago, but maybe there was a reason he had been so... sane before. Maybe Harper was wrong. Maybe it had helped.

Felix looked at his reflection in the shattered mirror. He saw the monster that had hurt Ruby, he saw the creature that had let Cat get beaten. He didn't see himself.

And so without another thought the glass shard came down hard on his wrist.

Harper was so honestly relieved that she could barely contain herself. Felix had made up with Ruby in the best way that he knew how. They had talked, she had vented, things were as good as they were going to get for the time being--and for the young deaf volunteer, that was absolutely wonderful. Today, the plan was to talk to the little boy himself, and give him suggestions about how to further patch up his relationship with the shadow girl he had so accidently pushed away. Though she had almost become some sort of last resort--the other nurses hadn't had any luck, and they had figured that perhaps a figure that Felix didn't know as readily may be able to get him to cooperate, to open up. She certainly hoped so.

Now Harper stood outside the door to the young boy's room, her phone in her pocket, her eyes bright and cheerful. She held a sandwich bag in one hand, and in it there were packed two sandwiches (ham and cheese) two small cans of Diet Coke, and two good-sized chocolate-chip cookies. She was planning on asking Felix if he would rather join her for lunch than go to the cafeteria to eat; even with all their new training, the lunch ladies still made the most horrendous meals. Thus the meal packed for two. The volunteer allowed a smile to raise at her lips, made a fist, and knocked on the door. She couldn't hear the sound, but she could feel the vibration; it was a good, brisk knock.

((Aww man she's so cute.))

Felix himself had been feeling more relieved than ever before. He, of course, had still been staying safe in his room, as he would be lying if he said he was feeling entirely better. Though he was so much better, he wasn't perfect. The young killer had been laying on his back, feet kicked up against the wall above his bed, and he had been throwing a ball against his ceiling out of boredom. The knock was a welcome sound, and baby blue gaze turned to look at the door.

With a sigh, the boy hopped up and to the door, a big smile in place. The smile widened even more as he opened the door and spotted Harper. "Hi, Harper," he said with a perky grin. "Come on in."

Harper obliged with a widening of her own smile, and then headed into the middle of the room, looking around, taking stock. Of course, his broken mirror had been removed, along with all the glass fragments, and of course, his weapon shelf was still empty, but the young volunteer couldn't see any other obvious changes to her little friend's room. Good; that meant he was feeling better enough not to consider self-harm. That was fantastic news. Harper turned to Felix with a questioning raise of one eyebrow, and she pointed at the bed as if to ask if she could sit.

"Oh yeah, of course." The little boy closed the door behind the volunteer and gestured towards his bed with a warm smile. "Be my guest." Felix sat beside her, resuming his position of laying across his bed. "So are you here to yell at me again?" he teased with a little wink.

Harper grinned, shook her head, and wagged a finger at him: Easy on the taunts, now, the gestures said. She set her bag on the floor at her feet and pulled out her phone, turning her attention to the bright screen for a few minutes, chewing thoughtfully on her lower lip as she tried to find the right words to express her worry, her relief, her happiness that he was feeling so much better. Finally, she settled on something simple. Her fingers darted about the keypad, and then she turned the phone to show him the message onscreen: I'm so happy you're doing better, Felix. I hear you talked to Ruby? How did that go? She did, of course, have some idea of that from the other staff members, but she wanted to hear the young boy himself recount events. After all, it was said that when it came to stories, nurses were had to trust.

Felix read across the screen, and his smile grew, even a little flush coloring his cheeks. "Yeah, it went okay. Wasn't easy; that girl is stubborn, I'll tell you." He chuckled, but he wasn't rude and didn't leave it at that. "I mean, I was playing the piano and she came in and we talked and I just explained myself over and over and out worked out, essentially."

Harper gave a firm nod. Good, she typed. That's good. A courtesy glance was thrown to the bag at her feet, and then more was added onto the message: Would you like to eat with me? I brought enough food for the both of us because everything here tastes like feet (though I'm working to fix that. :P)

Felix laughed, and nodded with a smile. "You're right, the food here is nasty. Yeah, sure! You're so sweet," he said with a little grin and a chuckle.

Harper shrugged off his praise, though a little smile and a slight flush colored her cheeks as she bent down to pick up the bag. Dainty hands reached in and out, unpacking the sandwiches, the Cokes, and the cookies (though she left those on the left side of the bed, behind her, just so they wouldn't be tempted.) She tapped a brief message on her phone, not even bothering to pick it up as she did so: Hope you don't mind this stuff; it's all we've got at the house. And I couldn't fit plates or cups into the bag, sorry. But I do have napkins. Good enough?

Felix arched his brows. "Harper, anything is better than what I would have ended up eating. This looks perfect," he said with a soft little smile, chuckling.

Harper looked pleased with this remark, and her full lips parted into a smile of gratitude. I try, she typed. Her free hand went for a sandwich, and she took a bite as the fingers of her right hand continued busily with the keypad: So, Felix. You know the drill; I want some updates. What's going on with you? With Ruby? With the asylum in general? Anything interesting?

"You mean other than my hell of a week?" Felix chuckled, and he, too, took of a small piece of the bread. The boy looked up at her from underneath his eyelashes, a smirk present in his baby blue eyes. It was good that he could joke about it, though.

Hard her mouth not been full, Harper would have returned the smirk. As it was, she swatted at him with her free hand and sniffed disdainfully. It was the familiar pantomime for You know what I mean. Spill. She often used it around Felix; his persistent teasing could get a little frustrating at times.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk," Felix said with a little laugh. "Mmm, I've seen better days but I'm doing fine. Ruby is fine. I don't know, I haven't done much aside from that one day I talked to Carlos and Ruby. I've kind of just been hiding out in my room." Felix shrugged, taking another little bite of the sandwich.

Harper's brows knit together in disapproval. Her fingers flashed across the phone's screen: What have I told you about hiding out, Felix? It's not good for you. Even if you feel like you'll snap, you should go outside. Find someone who helps calm you down, or just go seek out some alone-time in a place other than this room. It's oppressive in here. And it was, the redheaded volunteer could sense that. What she lacked in hearing, her mother always said, she made up for in perceptiveness: it was all too easy for the girl to find and understand the presence of emotions in rooms or in people. It was an almost necessary ability that came with her deafness--and she was using it now. There was a lot of negative energy in this room; it couldn't be good for the little boy to be spending so much time here.

Felix shrugged a little. "I don't know, a lot of times I just don't like people, you know? And I don't want to be out around them at all." Felix took another bite, a bigger one this time, so to hopefully quell his words.

The steady clicking of fingers on keys: You know what, Mr. Newbury? I don't really care. I've been depressed before, you know, and I've dragged myself out of that pit. It was real slow going--by now, I think I know enough to offer the right advice. And I'm telling you, you should not stay in this room so much. It will make you worse. She hadn't meant to lecture him, but had no regrets once she reread her words: they were honest and straight to the point, nothing the tiny killer couldn't handle. She knew that, and she wasn't going to stop counseling him until he let go of his pride and actually started listening.

Felix held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, sheesh," he muttered, raising his eyebrows. "No need to pull out that card." Felix didn't argue back, as it was proving to be quite the lost cause as of late. He sighed a little, though, and nodded. "Yeah. I know I shouldn't."

A firm nod met these words, and Harper took a big bite out of her sandwich: arguments and lecturing sure could do things for her appetite. She held the sandwich with one hand and typed with the other: Glad we understand each other. Now, you've did a bit of complaining, I've done a bit of lecturing. What else do we need to go over?

"Idunno, you're the one who wanted all this information," Felix said with a little wink, taking the last bite before continuing. "I'll be honest, I was expecting more lectures. You haven't seen me sane enough to talk to in a while."

Harper's full lips parted in a smirk. She raised her eyebrows at him, and typed: I can't go at you all at once, as tempting as your offer is. It would make your tiny head blow up. Her smirk widened, and she imitated the sound of an explosion for emphasis, making the familiar gestures meant to mime the blowing of one's mind. Sometimes, the deaf volunteer couldn't resist getting in her own little teases. She couldn't let Felix have all the fun.

Felix chuckled. "Oh, dear, I think I can handle you. You're actually not that intimidating," he said with a little chuckle and a wide grin. "Lay it all on me," he laughed.

Harper shook her head and typed with one hand as she finished her sandwich: All my ranting at one time? Crime and punishment, dear boy. Later, if you still insist on being a masochist. How does that sound? The tab was popped on the can of her Diet Coke, and the volunteer took a deep swallow from it before returning her gaze to Felix, a playful challenge in it.

"You know where to find me," he said with a little chuckle.